Dan Shaffer

Never forget Bad Bunny’s @WWE entrance in Puerto Rico that felt like a whole concert 😮‍💨 What an atmosphere 🔥

KABOLY: This is more than just a job for Mike McCarthy, and that should excite everybody Mark Kaboly / Steelers Correspondent For The @PatMcAfeeShow PITTSBURGH — Some things you can’t fake, and Mike McCarthy can now attest to that. McCarthy's inability to get through the second sentence of his introductory news conference without his voice cracking, due to the overwhelming emotions triggered by the realization that he was now the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was something as real as you are going to see in this business. Now, did it win over the overwhelmingly unhappy fan base that wanted to see a younger coach with new ideas and who would be willing to overhaul the stagnant culture of a once-proud organization? No, but he sure made a dent in those naysayers, not because he is from Pittsburgh or even that he was once a bouncer at the defunct Station Square night club Chaunceys, but because of his investment he has with this region and this team. Mike McCarthy is personally invested, not just professionally, and yes, there is a difference … a big difference. Being the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers isn’t a job; it’s a passion that a guy who grew up less than 10 minutes away from old Three Rivers Stadium can’t accept failure. And if nothing else, that should provide hope that the Steelers got the right man to lead their franchise for the next five, 15, 19, or 23 years. “Oftentimes, coaches and players, you put on new team colors, and it takes a minute to feel comfortable in those new colors,” McCarthy read from a prepared opening statement, but only after getting his emotions in check. “But to be blessed beyond any measure one day to put on the colors you wore since you brought home, when you came home from Mercy Hospital …” McCarthy lost his composure again and started to have some disconnect between his brain and his mouth, but the point was taken. McCarthy is going to do everything in his power to bring a seventh Lombardi Trophy back to the City of Pittsburgh. You aren’t going to get a coach mailing it in as retirement age approaches for most of us because it’s not just a job for him; it’s a passion and a privilege to coach the Steelers. And a dream. Owner Art Rooney II recently said he was “not worried about winning the initial press conference,” and you have to believe he was telling the truth. But it didn’t hurt to go out there and kill it … and make no mistake about it, Mike McCarthy killed it. Nearly 20 family members were front row at the Champions Club inside Acrisure Stadium watch ‘Greenfield Mike’ finally realize his dream, and it was something that resonated with not only his family, but with surely more than a handful of fans waiting to torch the hiring from the outset. “Whew, I've received probably twice as many, at least, text messages and calls as I did when we won the Super Bowl. It's just been overwhelming,” McCarthy said. You could easily tell that the Steelers picked the right guy just hearing McCarthy talk ball for a half hour. No wonder Rooney II, Omar Khan, and Danny Rooney cut the interview process short and went with McCarthy over Brian Flores and Anthony Weaver. There was just something about McCarthy’s passion that seemed to have been missing with the Steelers for a couple of years now, and that’s nothing against Mike Tomlin. Of course, it didn’t seem like that at the time, but when you hear a different voice, I can now understand the meaning behind the thought process of Tomlin’s message getting stale after 19 years on the job. “I won't say it was an easy decision, but I would say at the end of the day it was an obvious decision for us that Mike was the guy for the job,” Rooney II said. There is something to being a Pittsburgh guy returning to Pittsburgh. You see it from transplanted Pittsburghers all over the country, with their Terrible Towels waving and always being proud to be a Pittsburgher. A lot of times, we use that as a butt of a joke, but it’s real, and McCarthy exudes that more than most. Hollywood actor Joe Manganiello, a 1995 Mt. Lebanon graduate who recently moved back to the area, tweeted: “There’s nothing like coming back to the city you love … welcome back, Coach Mike.” Big Mike knows. Big Mike also knows the expectations associated with being the Steelers' head coach. He’s not a dummy. He knows what he’s walking into and what’s expected of him and is well aware of the skepticism that surrounds Rooney hiring “another guy with Pittsburgh ties.” On this day, it mattered not. “My heart is full, my focus is singular,” McCarthy said as his 84- and 87-year-old parents watched mere feet away. “It's time to bring another championship back to this great city. With that, I just want to make sure that when we do get that seventh trophy, in the case that we start that victory parade at 1137 Greenfield Avenue (address growing up).” Now, there is a lot that needs to happen before we get there, and we all can acknowledge that, even if McCarthy noted a couple of times that he wasn’t left with an empty cupboard. The Steelers are just one of five teams that won at least 10 games over the past three seasons and are coming off a division title, but you can also see that they are far away from competing with the teams that played over the weekend in the conference championship games. First and foremost, McCarthy has to find a quarterback to help them win now (Rooney has made that clear over the past week) and also find the quarterback of the future so that the revolving door of five starting quarterbacks over the past five years is no longer an issue moving forward. Right now, Will Howard and Mason Rudolph are the only quarterbacks on the roster. The organization is open to bringing back Aaron Rodgers for a last go-around with his former coach of 13 seasons in Green Bay. “I'd say, look, with everybody we talked to, the conversation of developing the next young quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers was part of it,” Khan said. “I think Mike's resumé speaks for itself, who he's been around. But we're excited about working with Will, and that was a part of it.” Then he has to figure out the wide receiver room, the left side of the offensive line, the underachieving defense, and the suspect backend of the defense, so it’s the shine of the Black and Gold hometown boy is going to rub off quickly. It’s a result-oriented business, and everybody knows that. Sure, the Steelers will give McCarthy more of a leash than any other team to allow their head coach to succeed, and after seeing how much this means to a coach who has already accomplished so much over his career, how can’t you feel like he’s going to get the Steelers back to winning playoff games or even more? Who cares if he is from Greenfield? Who cares if the Steelers interviewed only two other candidates in person? Who cares if his playoff record in Dallas wasn’t good? Who cares if he is 62? The moment he opened his mouth on Tuesday, you knew he was the right guy for the job, and that’s all that should matter right now. “This city, this franchise, and this fan base mean the world to me – because Pittsburgh is my world,” McCarthy said. Now, get to work. Graphic by @DerekMurphy32 (DBone)

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